Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The cover of the Red Pepper newspaper read, "EXPOSED! Uganda's 200 Top Homos Named," with several photographs next to the headline. Recently, President Yoweri Museveni signed into law a bill that made some homosexual acts punishable by life in prison. "They're disgusting. What sort of people are they?" he said. "I never knew what they were doing. I've been told recently that what they do is terrible. Disgusting. But I was ready to ignore that if there was proof that that's how he is born, abnormal. But now the proof is not there." This isn't the first time that a Ugandan newspaper have identified people that it claimed were gay. In November 2010, Rolling Stone - a local tabloid which has no relation to the U.S. music magazine - listed 100 of what it called the country's top gays and lesbians, with photos and addresses alongside a yellow banner reading, "hang them." The next month, the paper listed 10 more people it claimed were gay. The list included addresses and alleged intimate details about them. Museveni had commissioned a group of Ugandan government scientists to study whether homosexuality is "learned," concluding that it is a matter of choice. "I was regarding it as an inborn problem," he said. "Genetic distortion - that was my argument. But now our scientists have knocked this one out." The bill was introduced in 2009 and originally included a death penalty clause for some homosexual acts. The nation's Parliament passed the bill in December 2013, replacing the death penalty provision with a proposal of life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality." This includes acts in which one person is infected with HIV, "serial offenders" and sex with minors, according to Amnesty International. The new law also includes punishment - up to seven years in prison - for people and institutions who perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, language that was not in the 2009 version. Lawmakers in the conservative nation said that the influence of Western lifestyles risked destroying family units. The bill also proposed prison terms for anyone who counsels or reaches out to gays and lesbians, a provision that could ensnare rights groups and others providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Attitudes against homosexuality are prevalent in Uganda. A 2013 report from Pew Research found that 96% of Ugandans believe society should not accept homosexuality. Thirty-eight African countries have made homosexuality illegal. Even before Museveni signed the bill into law, homosexual acts were punishable by 14 years to life in prison. Ugandan gay rights activist Pepe Julian Onziema said that some gay people in Uganda would rather kill themselves than live under the new law. "Prior to the bill becoming law today, people attempted suicide because they are like, 'I'm not going to live to see this country kill me - so I would rather take my life.' "

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Erin W. Willinger's body was found with multiple stab wounds in a deserted part of the city, said Agra police chief Shalabh Mathur. Her husband Bunty Sharma committed suicide by igniting cooking gas and causing a massive explosion in his home, Mathur said. Willinger and Sharma met in 2013 when she visited the Taj Mahal with friends. She and Sharma fell in love and got married in October 2013, police said. Willinger, 35, from West Chester, Pennsylvania, adopted an Indian name, Kiran Sharma, and began working with a local non-governmental organization to promote tourism in Agra. Sharma, 32, was a rickshaw cab driver in Agra city. But police say that they separated soon after because of differences. "Both of them tried to resolve their differences and even met with a marriage counselor," Mathur said. On the night of the murder, Sharma took Willinger out in his vehicle, and - on reaching a secluded place - stabbed and killed her and dumped the body on the side of the road, Mathur said.

The officer, Detective Eric Patino, allegedly said that he would release the rival, an Israeli businessman named Tomer Shohat, if Shohat gave him a computer containing information that he had gathered on alleged misconduct by Ben Zion Suky, Pinto’s right-hand man. Pinto, a powerful Israeli rabbi, is at the center of an unrelated scandal that’s made headlines in Israel in recent weeks. Haaretz reported on February 21, 2014 that authorities are preparing to indict Pinto on charges of bribing and threatening Israeli police. Pinto is about to be indicted for threatening and attempting to bribe Israeli police officers. In October 2012, Pinto and his wife were placed under house arrest in connection to the same bribery case. Suky is a former pornography distributor with multiple legal entanglements related to his real estate investments.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

The comments came from Yahya Jammeh, president of Gambia, who said that his government would tackle gays in the same way it fights malaria-causing mosquitoes. It comes amid a renewed crackdown on same-sex relationships in Africa, where homosexuality is illegal in 37 countries. In recent months, Nigeria has outlawed same-sex relationships and Uganda has voted for life imprisonment for some homosexual acts. Jammeh said that his country would defend its sovereignty and Islamic beliefs, and not yield to outside pressure on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. He also said that as far as he was concerned, LGBT can only stand for Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Bacteria and Tuberculosis; all of which are detrimental to human existence.

Reynolds will also have to enter a plea on a separate charge of breaking Zimbabwe's immigration laws. Reynolds lost his seat representing Illinois almost 20 years ago after being convicted of statutory rape. Reynolds, who is 62, overstayed his visa and brought several Zimbabwean models and other women to his hotel room where he took photographs and videos. In Zimbabwe, Reynolds helped draw investment to hotel and office projects and is also known for his opposition to U.S. sanctions against President Robert Mugabe. Reynolds, a Harvard graduate and former Rhodes scholar, was once viewed as a rising star in the Democratic Party. He resigned from his congressional seat in 1995 after he was convicted by a jury of having sex with a former campaign worker while she was underage, and then trying to thwart the investigation. While in prison he was also convicted of bank and campaign fraud for concealing debts to obtain bank loans and diverting money intended for voter registration drives into his election campaign. He was in jail until his sentence was commuted by then-President Bill Clinton in January 2001.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Preliminary results of the 2012 baseline survey of more than 1,000 healthcare workers in three hospitals show that more than 68% of patient care staff had never been screened for TB; nearly 20% were not vaccinated against hepatitis; and 55% did not wear respiratory protection when needed. Despite South Africa's high TB and HIV rates - 18% of its adult population is HIV-positive - and risk of hepatitis transmission, recapping of used needles before disposal and washing and reusing of gloves were common, with more than 20% surveyed reporting needle-stick injury or unprotected exposure to bodily fluids. Healthcare workers in South Africa are at three times the risk of contracting TB than other South Africans, and more than seven times more likely to be hospitalized for drug-resistant TB. A 2013 WHO estimate showed that South Africans were almost 300 times more likely to contract TB than Americans.

Friday, February 14, 2014

The findings revealed that in a study that tested the DNA of 409 gay men, at least two chromosomes may affect a man’s sexual orientation. The study involved drawing blood from 409 gay brothers and heterosexual members of their families. Analysis confirmed that an area on the X chromosome – which men inherit from their mothers - known as Xq28 has some impact on sexual orientation. Another stretch of DNA on chromosome 8 also affects male sexual behavior. The findings confirm the results of a controversial study conducted in 1993 by Dean Hamer, a scientist at the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Hamer studied the family history of more than 100 gay men and found that more than 10% of brothers of gay men were gay themselves. This is a vast difference from just 3% for the general population. Hamer tied sexual orientation to the mother’s side of the family. In a follow-up work, he found 33 out of 40 gay brothers had similar genetic markers on the Xq28 region of the X chromosome. At the time, Hamer’s study concluded that there is “99.5% certainty that there is a gene (or genes) in this area of the X chromosome that predisposes a male to become a heterosexual.” The latest study confirms Hamer’s findings and suggests that a man’s sexual orientation depends on about 30% to 40% of genetic factors, while environmental factors, including the hormones a fetus is exposed to in the womb, may also influence a man’s sexuality. "It is not completely determinative; there are certainly other environmental factors involved," said Michael Bailey of Northwestern University, who carried out the research. The study raises the possibility of prenatal testing to determine whether the child will be gay or straight. “Although this could one day lead to a prenatal test for male sexual orientation, it would not be very accurate, as there are other factors that can influence the outcome,” Bailey said. “Clearly parents should not be allowed to torture or kill babies. But they can currently choose to terminate a pregnancy early on, so they should be allowed to have as much information on the future child as possible.” Bailey’s colleague, Alan Sanders, says the findings should not be used to test for sexual orientation. "When people say there's a gay gene, it's an oversimplification," Sanders said. "There's more than one gene, and genetics is not the whole story. Whatever gene contributes to sexual orientation, you can think of it as much as contributing to heterosexuality as much as you can think of it contributing to homosexuality. It contributes to a variation in the trait."

Bishop Orlando Findlayter, the pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Brooklyn, endorsed de Blasio in June 2013, when the candidate was running behind in the polls. The bishop helped solidify de Blasio's support among African-Americans, and was named to the mayor's inaugural committee. Mayor de Blasio called Deputy Chief Kim Royster, a top official in the NYPD's press office, shortly after two police officers pulled over Bishop Findlayter as he drove a 2012 Lincoln sedan at the southeast corner of Clarkson Avenue and East 92nd Street in Brooklyn, officials said. The officers said that the bishop had made a left turn without signaling, according to the report. De Blasio spokesman Phil Walzak said that the mayor reached out to the deputy chief to "get clarification on word that there had been an arrest of a respected local clergyman."

The federal jury found Nagin guilty of 20 of 21 counts against him. The Democrat, who left office in 2010 after eight years, was indicted in January 2013 on charges that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and truckloads of free granite for his family business in exchange for promoting the interests of local businessman Frank Fradella. He was also charged with accepting thousands of dollars in payoffs from another businessman, Rodney Williams, for his help in securing city contracts. The charges against Nagin included one overarching conspiracy count along with six counts of bribery, nine counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy and four counts of filing false tax returns. He was acquitted of one of the bribery counts. Each charge carries a sentence from 3 to 20 years, but how long he would serve was unclear and will depend on a pre-sentence investigation and various sentencing guidelines. No sentencing date has been set. Nagin took hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of bribes including money, free travel and granite for Stone Age LLC, a family granite business. The corruption spanned the time before and after Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, plunging the city into chaos. The conviction wasn't a surprise to Rainelle Smith, 64, of New Orleans, who said that she voted for Nagin. "I don't believe he served the city as well as he should have," she said. "He was supposed to come in and prevent the corruption the city was known for. We, in my family, thought of him as the 'cleanup man.' Instead he gets in office and he soiled it more." The charges resulted from a City Hall corruption investigation that had resulted in several convictions or guilty pleas by former Nagin associates by the time trial started on January 27, 2014. Fradella and Williams, both awaiting sentencing for their roles in separate bribery schemes alleged in the case, each testified that they bribed Nagin. Nagin's former technology chief, Greg Meffert, who is also awaiting sentencing after a plea deal, told jurors that he helped another businessman, Mark St. Pierre, bribe Nagin with lavish vacation trips. St. Pierre did not testify. He was convicted in the case in 2011.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Researchers have found that teenagers who had a highly functioning NPTN gene performed better in intelligence tests. It is thought that the NPTN gene indirectly affects how the brain cells communicate and may control the formation of the cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of the human brain, also known as "grey matter." Previously it has been shown that grey matter plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought and language. Studies have also proved that the thickness of the cerebral cortex correlates with intellectual ability. However, until now no genes had been identified. Teens with an underperforming NPTN gene did less well in intelligence tests. An international team of scientists analyzed DNA samples and MRI scans from 1,583 healthy 14 year old teenagers. The teenagers also underwent a series of tests to determine their verbal and non-verbal intelligence. The researchers looked at over 54,000 genetic variants possibly involved in brain development. They found that, on average, teenagers carrying a particular gene variant had a thinner cortex in the left cerebral hemisphere, particularly in the frontal and temporal lobes, and performed less well on tests for intellectual ability. The genetic variation affects the expression of the NPTN gene, which encodes a protein acting at neuronal synapses and therefore affects how brain cells communicate. Their findings suggest that some differences in intellectual abilities can result from the decreased function of the NPTN gene in particular regions of the left brain hemisphere.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Puerto Rico, about 1,000 miles from Miami, has long been poor. Its per capita income is around $15,200, half that of Mississippi, the poorest state. In addition, 37% of all households receive food stamps; in Mississippi, the total is 22%. Puerto Rico’s drop in population has far outpaced that of American states. In 2011 and 2012, the population fell by nearly 1%, according to census figures. From July 2012 to July 2013, it declined again by 1%, or about 36,000 people. That is more than seven times the drop in West Virginia, the state with the steepest population losses. Of the island’s 3.67 million people, only one million work in the formal economy. The island has one of the lowest labor participation rates in the world, with only 41.3% of working-age Puerto Ricans in jobs; one in four works for the government. There were 1,136 murders in 2011, a record and far higher than the mainland’s rate.

The referendum on the changes to the country’s liberal immigration law was a rebuke to the Swiss government, the banking industry and business leaders who had lobbied against the restrictions, warning that such a move could endanger Switzerland’s prosperity. The Swiss initiative foresees annual quotas on the number of immigrants allowed to work in the country, as well as limits for specific sectors. It would also require preference be given to Swiss applicants for open positions. In Brussels, the European Commission issued a statement saying that it was “disappointed” that the initiative had passed, adding that it would have to study the vote’s implications on relations between the European Union and Switzerland.

The finding clarifies some of the large racial disparities associated with diabetes risk and provides potential new avenues for developing treatments. According to estimates from the National Health and Nutrition Exam Survey (NHANES), the prevalence of diabetes is 70% higher among African-Americans than non-Hispanic whites. Traditional risk factors such as obesity, socio-economic status, diet and behavioral factors account for some of the racial disparities, but not all. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 11,200 people with type 2 diabetes, including 8,840 whites and 2,322 African-Americans. Among the African-Americans, many well-known distinctions emerged: there were more women; they were heavier; they had higher blood pressure; and they were more likely to have lower incomes. Those and other known risk factors accounted for about 42% of the increased tendency for type 2 diabetes among African-Americans. Other, less well-known factors also surfaced, notably low lung function and lower serum potassium levels among the African-Americans who developed diabetes. Compared to obesity, which accounts for a 22% increased risk of developing diabetes, low lung function (measured as forced vital capacity) was nearly equally culpable, accounting for a 21.7% increased risk among the African-American diabetes patients. Low serum potassium levels accounted for 17.7% of the increased risk. It is unclear what role reduced lung function and low potassium levels might play in type 2 diabetes; whether they are markers, causes or consequences of the disease needs additional study. Both factors are typically different among African-Americans and whites.

The police recovered at least two fresh human heads when they arrested 11 people from the restaurant including the owner, six women and four men, following a tip-off. The blood-soaked heads were found wrapped in cellophane sheets. Officials have also seized two AK-47 rifles, other weapons, dozens of rounds of ammunition and several mobile phones during the raid. Reports of cannibalism sometimes emerge in Nigeria, but this is the first time a restaurant has been booked for selling human meat dishes.

Two new studies explore the complex relationship between race, stress and inflammation and potential impacts on pregnancy in the hope of reducing preterm births and infant mortality, and improving maternal mental health.

African-Americans were 39 times more likely to die of a stroke if they were exposed to an infection in the previous month when compared to other time periods while whites were four times more likely and Hispanics were five times more likely to die of stroke after an infection. The most frequent infections were urinary, skin, and respiratory tract infections and occurred within 30 days of a stroke. "Infection before stroke appears to be most lethal for black Americans," says lead author Deborah A. Levine, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of medicine in the division of general medicine in the U-M Medical School. "We know that African-Americans have a much greater risk of dying from a stroke than white Americans, and we wanted to know if infection - which research suggests is a stroke trigger - might contribute to this disparity." Infection is believed to promote the formation of blood clots and fat buildup in arteries, which block the artery and stop the flow of blood to the brain causing a stroke. Racial disparities in stroke death continue to widen in the United States where blacks are twice as likely to die from stroke as whites. The new findings show that all ethnic and racial groups had a higher risk of stroke following an infection but there were significant disparities in subsequent stroke deaths. Infection appeared to be a trigger of stroke death in whites and Hispanics as well, but it was particularly potent in African-Americans. Infection also occurred more often before stroke death in black Americans, with 70% experiencing an infection in the 30 days before stroke death compared to a frequency of 15% in months that were not followed by a stroke death. Infection occurred less often before stroke death in white Americans, with 45% experiencing an infection in the month before stroke death compared to a frequency of 19% in months that were not followed by a stroke death. Although earlier studies suggested that respiratory infections are the most potent triggers of stroke, Levine and colleagues found that urinary tract infections and skin infections seemed to be just as strong of triggers.

Friday, February 7, 2014

The overwhelming move to kick him out and end his $60,000 annual pay came after he pleaded to keep his job during the historic State House hearing. His former colleagues weren't swayed and a call for a “censure” rather than expulsion was shot down 143-10. Henriquez has continued to insist he is innocent of holding down and punching a then-girlfriend after she wouldn’t have sex with him in July 2012. He has been found guilty and sentenced to six months in the Middlesex County House of Corrections in Billerica. Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo, speaking in a statement following the expulsion vote, defended the committee's probe into the assault case as an independent investigation which included reviewing 11 police reports, 78 exhibits and nearly 1,000 pages of trial testimony. The House, DeLeo said, "found that a representative could not serve as a member while incarcerated in jail after being convicted of two charges of a serious nature. With that vote completed, the House will now move forward to address the budget, gun safety, domestic violence and other important legislative matters." State Rep. Christopher Fallon of Malden, in one of most impassioned speeches, said that the House has to show zero tolerance for abuse against women. He urged the vote on expulsion, saying from his seat: "We don't have a choice today. ... This body is legally and morally responsible" to uphold laws. Earlier, the NAACP asked lawmakers to sit out the vote on the expulsion of Henriquez, a member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus and of the advocacy organization. “The NAACP, New England Area Conference (NEAC), respectfully requests that the Massachusetts House of Representatives abstain from voting in the matter of the expulsion of Representative Carlos Henriquez, expected to come before the House today,” the organization said in a letter. “In the alternative, Members of the House are asked to vote against the expulsion of their colleague.”

Thursday, February 6, 2014

The girls are told by their families that they are attending a camp with their friends, but when they arrive they are shown how to have sex and told that they must lose their "child dust" as soon as they can or they will get a skin disease. The horrifying practice is not new - it is a time-honored ritual passed through generations and the girls are sent by their families to make sure they are accepted into their communities as adults. Malawi, like most countries is Southern Africa is facing an AIDS crisis that has orphaned at least half a million children so far. During the initiation ceremonies, many girls have to have unprotected sex with a man to prepare them for womanhood. Without undergoing this process, a girl was considered to be a child and was therefore illegible for marriages.

A new study of southern African genes reveals that a previously unknown migration took western Eurasian DNA back to continent 3,000 years ago. The study looked at the DNA of Khoisan tribes of southern Africa. The Khoisan tribes are thought to have lived in near-isolation from the rest of humanity for thousands of years. The study by Harvard University revealed that that some of their genes closely match people from modern-day southern Europe, including Spain and Italy. Researchers have now identified two migrations: One about 3,000 years ago, of non-Africans entering east Africa, and a second one 900–1,800 years ago. Dating methods suggest that the European DNA made their way into the Khoisan DNA sometime between 900 and 1800 years ago, before known European contact with the region. Meanwhile, archaeological studies of the region suggest that a subset of the Khoisan, known as the Khoe-Kwadi speakers, arrived in southern Africa from east Africa much earlier. Professor David Reich of Harvard University found that the proportion of Eurasian DNA was highest in Khoe-Kwadi tribes, who have up to 14% of western Eurasian ancestry. The recent research confirms a 2012 study by Luca Pagani of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute which found non-African genes in people living in Ethiopia. They found that the genomes of some Ethiopian populations bear striking similarities to those of populations in Israel and Syria, a potential genetic legacy of the Queen of Sheba and her companions. The team detected mixing between some Ethiopians and non-African populations dating to approximately 3,000 years ago.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Thomas Sonnenberg called 911 for 20-year-old Devon Derrick Parker who police say told him he was being pursued by assailants with baseball bats. When police arrived at the home in north Minneapolis, they found Sonnenberg dead. Parker was apprehended inside the house. Sonnenberg's daughter Raina Baldwin said that Parker was attempting to rob the house but did not realize that her mother was also in the home. Sonnenberg answered the door to Parker begging to come in because he was in danger. He let the young black man inside and closed the door before calling 911. It was then that Parker shot him in the head. Thomas Sonnenberg's wife Elaine Sonnenberg, 68, was in the kitchen at the time of the shooting. "When the murderer found out she was here, he threw her around and choked her, and he was going to rape her," Baldwin said. The front door locked behind Parker when he entered the house. When Parker realized, he threatened Elaine Sonnenberg to force her to give him the keys, says Baldwin. Police, who Thomas Sonnenberg had called on Parker's behalf, arrived before he could escape. Police recovered a handgun in the house which is believed to be the murder weapon. Court records show that Parker was on probation for a felony assault in 2011. Records show that he has been booked on numerous felony charges, including shooting at a public vehicle or facility and throwing bodily fluids or feces and has drug and trespassing convictions.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

The primary motive behind the attack is suspected to be dowry-related, as claimed by the parents of the dead woman, Jharkhand state police superintendent N.K. Mishra said. The three suspects poured kerosene on Annu Devi, 22, and the baby girl at their village home in the state's Dumka district and set them on fire, Mishra said. The 1-year-old child died instantly, and the mother later succumbed to her injuries in a hospital, police said. A court has sent the three suspects to jail to await trial, Mishra said. Asked whether the fact that Devi gave birth to a girl was also a motive, Mishra said: "That could be a factor. But it was mainly for dowry. Her family has said in their complaint she was harassed for money and other things." Devi married three years ago, Mishra said. Dowry is banned in India, but giving expensive "gifts" to the grooms and their relatives at weddings hosted by the brides' families remains a common practice in the country. Police across India registered 8,233 murders of women as dowry deaths in 2012, according to national crime data.